Posts from July 2009

Weddings

Posted by aziza 9 Comments
Jul 15 2009

Today is my cousin’s wedding (حفل زفاف), so I thought of writing about weddings in some Arab countries, especially Egypt. Weddings are very important and happy occasions in Arab societies, and they have an important social function in conservative societies. They are the culmination of 2 people and 2 families getting together. Weddings are usually celebrated at night in a celebration that can be big or small depending on the social status and economic capabilities of the couple and their families.

Weddings come after 2 previous stages, which occasionally involve celebrations as well, engagement (الخطبة) and marriage registration (عقد القران). In certain occasions, the registration is done on the same day of the wedding. At a wedding party, the bride (العروس) typically wears a white dress and the groom (العريس) wears a suit. There is always music, whether live or recorded, and dancing, with a lot of food and drink for the guests.

Different countries have different ways of celebrating weddings. In Morocco, for example, wedding celebrations last for several days, and each day has its own routine. Below is a picture of a bride in a Moroccan wedding.

a moroccan wedding [IMG_8913]

(Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emvionline/1382977190/)

In some rich families and especially in the Gulf, families use party organizers to take care of all the details. In certain situations, there are collective weddings (حفل زفاف جماعي) parties that are sometimes organized by kings (like King of Saudi Arabia who got 800 young people married in a collective wedding this week), and sometimes collective weddings are organized by charities.

Weddings are very happy and usually taxing occasions that require a lot of effort and time for preparations. After the wedding, most couples enjoy a short break for a honey moon (شهر عسل). The typical word to congratulate couple is (مبروك).

The Abbasid Caliphate

Posted by aziza No Comments
Jul 13 2009

The Abbasid Caliphate (الخلافة العباسية) was the third Islamic dynasty following the Umayyad Dynasty (الخلافة الأموية). The word Abbasid is derived from the name of prophet Muhammad’s uncle, Al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib. The Abbasids opposed the Umayyads and tried to weaken their power by gaining the favor of groups who opposed them, especially the Shiites.

Abu al-‘Abbās ‘Abdu’llāh as-Saffāh (أبو العباس عبد الله السفاح) organized a rebellion against the Umayyads in Iran and Khurasan In 750. He defeated the Umayyads and was proclaimed Caliph on the Greater Zab River. After that, he eliminated the Umayyads and removed other opposition including the former Shiite allies. The Abbasids moved the capital city from Damasus to Iraq where there was less support for the Umayyads. Caliph Abu Ja’far Al-Mansur (أبو جعفر المنصور‎) founded Baghdad city in 762 to be the capital of the Abbasid empire. The Abbasid caliphate flourished for two centuries, with great rulers who expanded the empire and paid a lot of attention to literature, science and translation.

By the middle of the 8th century Baghdad became an important centre for learning and science. The House of Wisdom (بيت الحكمة) was built in Baghdad to be a major library and centre for translation. Major books in all languages known at that time were translated into Arabic. Harun al-Rashid (هارون الرشيد‎) is considered the most famous Abbasid Caliph. His reign was characterized by advancements in all fields. Muslim scholars and scientists benefited from the works translated from different languages at the time of the Abbasids. Major developments achieved at that age included development of mathematical, geometric and astronomical knowledge. Al-khwārizmī invented Algebra. In addition, scientists and physicians developed the areas of science and medicine such as anatomy, description of various diseases and their treatment, etc.

Various factors contributed to the decline of the Abbasid dynasty including power rivalry between eligible heirs to the caliphate, the rise to power of the Mamluks, i.e. Turkish officers appointed in Muslim armies, and external threats of the Byzantine Empire and the Mongols. The Abbasid rule was ended in 1258 at the hands of Hulagu Khan, the Mongol conqueror.

 

The active participle (Verb form VI-X)

Posted by aziza No Comments
Jul 10 2009

In this post, I continue to explain the formation of the active participle (اسم الفاعل) from verb forms (VI-X), and I give some exceptional rules to note when making this form, especially as regards doubled verbs. In the beginning, I remind you of the steps that we have to follow to form the active participle from form (VI-X). First, we have to make the present form of the verb, then we replace the first letter of the present form with the letter (مُ) and place a kasra (ـِ) “short i” on the penultimate letter, i.e. the one before last. The table below shows the appropriate verb forms and the active participle with example:

 

Form VI

تفاعَلَ

يتفاعَلُ

مُتَفاعِلُ

 

Example

تَفاهَم

يَتَفاهَم

مُتفاهِم

To agree/reach an understanding

Form VII

انفعَلَ

ينفعِلُ

مُنفَعِلُ

 

Example

اِنْشَغَل

يَنْشَغِل

مُنشَغِل

To be busy / reoccupied with

Form VIII

افتعَلَ

يفتعِل

مُفتعِلُ

 

Example

اِقتَرَب

يَقتَرِب

مُقتَرِب

To come close /approach

Form IX

افعَلَّ

يفعَلُّ

مُفعَلّ

 

Example

اِحمَرَّ

يَحمَرّ

مُحمَرّ *

To become red

Form X

اِستَفعَلَ

يَستَفعِلُ

مُستَفعِلُ

 

Example

اِستَخدَم

يَستَخدِم

مُستَخدِم

To use

 

كنت أعتقد أنهم مختلفون ولكنهم في الحقيقة متفاهمون تماماً.

“I thought that they were in disagreement, but they in fact agree with each other completely.”

 

منذ ساعة كان عندي وقت فراغ ولكني الآن منشغل بترتيب غرفتي.

“I had some spare time an hour earlier, but I am now busy arranging my room.”

 

احترس يبدو أن القطار مقترب منا بسرعة كبيرة.

“Beware, the train seems to be approaching us in very high speed.”

 

منى تشعر بالخجل ووجهها محمرّ.

“Mona feels shy and she is blushed (lit. her face is reddened).”

يزداد عدد مستخدمي الإنترنت يوماً بعد يوم.

“The number of internet users increases day by day.”

 *  It should be noted that doubled verbs, for example form IX, do not always take a short ion the penultimate letter because the last 2 letters are written as one with a doubling (shadda) on top.

The active participle (Form II-V)

Posted by aziza No Comments
Jul 6 2009

In a previous post, I introduced the active participle (اسم الفاعل) which is an important derivative that denotes the doer of the action of the person involved in doing the action. It has been noted that the active participle is formed from 3-lettered verbs (form I) by following the pattern (فاعل), for example (عامل – عمل) “worked –worker”

 

To form the active participle (اسم الفاعل) from other verb forms, there is not a single pattern you can follow in the same way, but there is a simple process that you can follow to make the form. The first step is to make the present form of the verb, then you replace the first letter of the present form with the letter (مُ) and place a kasra (ـِ) “short i” on the penultimate letter, i.e. the one before last. It may seem like a long process, but it is very easy.

Let’s practice with form II to V and use the words we make in sentences:

 

Form II

فعَّلَ

يفعِّلُ

مُفعِّلُ

 

Example

دَرَّس

يُدرِّس

مُدرِّس

Teacher

Form III

فاعَلَ

يفاعِلُ

مُفاعِلُ

 

Example

بادل

يُبادِل

مُبادِل

exchanger

Form IV

أفعَلَ

يُفعِلُ

مُفعِلُ

 

Example

أَشرف

يُشرِف

مُشرِف

Supervisor

Form V

تفعَّلَ

يتفعَّلُ

مُتَفعِّلُ

 

Example

تَعلَّم

يَتَعلَّم

مُتعلِّم

Educated

 

أخي مُدرِّس في مدرسة ابتدائية وأختي مُدرِّسة في مدرسة ثانوية.

“My brother is a teacher at a primary school, and my sister is a teacher at a secondary school.”

 

كنت أريد مبادلة بعض طوابع البريد التي أجمعها ولكنني لم أجد مبادل.

“I wanted to exchange some of the stamps that I collect, but I did not find any one to exchange with.”

 

الشركة تحتاج إلى مشرف لخط الإنتاج الجديد.

“The company needs a supervisor for the new production line.”

 

صديقتي منى ذكية ومتعلمة.

“My friend Mona is intelligent and educated.”

 

 

How do you learn vocabulary?

Posted by aziza 7 Comments
Jul 2 2009

Learning vocabulary can be a very taxing task for learners of Arabic because there is so much to take in. There are so many words that you need to know in order to learn Arabic and to talk about a certain topic. I think that this is the case for learners of all languages!

I found that learning vocabulary can be made easier if students try to learn about one theme at a time. For example, in the table below, I present some words relevant to the topic of nature. All these words are related to the same theme on way or another. If you try to learn these words together and think of how to use them in sentences, you may find this easier than learning lists of words that are not related.

 أحب الطبيعة في مدينتي.

“I like nature in my city.”

يحب أن نحافظ على البيئة.

“We must conserve the environment.”

كل المخلوقات الحية  تحتاج إلى الماء والهواء والطاقة.

“All living creatures need water, air and energy.”

Nature

الطبيعة

Environment

البيئة

Life

الحياة

Water

الماء

Air

الهواء

Soil

التربة

Energy

الطاقة

Plant

نبات – نباتات

Insect

حشرة – حشرات

Animal

حيوان – حيوانات

Bird

طائر – الطيور

Fish

سمكة – الأسماك

The sun

الشمس

The weather

المناخ

Forest

غابة – غابات

Desert

صحراء – صحارى

Ocean

محيط – محيطات

Sea

بحر – بحار

Lake

بحيرة – بحيرات

River

نهر – أنهار

 

Can you think of a sentence? Write it in the comments section for another reader to learn!

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